Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 09:23:56 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary May 9, 1995 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public service only. Providing this information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD ************************************************************ "AIDS Virus May Be Undetected in Child Infected at Birth" "For Women with AIDS, Anguish of Having Babies" "Pharma Mar, S.A. Announces Major Collaboration with Major European Institution" "Two Brearley Students Invent Non-Reusable Syringe and Win Top Science Prize" "New Oral Medicine Clinic at San Francisco General Will Serve Patients with Oral Cancer, HIV, Diabetes, and Other Oral Problems" "AIDS Drug: Experiencing Local Delays" "Prednisolone for HIV?" "AIDS Talk" "Into the Groove: Yoko Ono" "International AIDS Candlelight Memorial, Sunday May 21, in 250 Cities in 47 Nations" ************************************************************ "AIDS Virus May Be Undetected in Child Infected at Birth" Baltimore Sun (05/09/95) P. 10D HIV-infected babies may live for many years without symptoms and without anyone realizing they are infected, report researchers in the journal Pediatrics. Dr. Samuel Grubman led a study of 42 children from nine to 15 years old who had been born with HIV and were being treated at Children's Hospital of New Jersey. Ten of the children displayed no symptoms, while eight showed some signs of illness--but not enough for an AIDS diagnosis. A total of 36 children showed no signs of illness until they were four. The researchers also found that some of the children had not been tested for HIV, despite the fact that they had indicative symptoms such as lymph swelling. A related article in the journal suggests that people who received blood transfusions as newborns before March 1985 may be infected with HIV and unaware of this fact. The researchers said that such children should be tested for HIV. Related Stories: New York Times (05/09) P. C3; Philadelphia Inquirer (05/09) P. A3 "For Women with AIDS, Anguish of Having Babies" New York Times (05/09/95) P. A1; Lee, Felicia R. Experts say the likelihood of an HIV-infected mother transmitting the virus to her child is 15 to 30 percent. New studies indicate that taking AZT during pregnancy and labor can reduce that risk to 8 percent. For many women, those are acceptable odds. They say that AZT increases the odds; that nothing in life is promised; and that if they have an infected child, they will love him or her anyway. Although most of the HIV-infected babies born in the United States each year have mothers who are unaware of their HIV status, an increasing number of women who knowingly have HIV or AIDS are also taking the risk. This reflects the union of new science and new attitudes among people with AIDS, who are living longer and are choosing not to see HIV as a death sentence. In the end, the reasons are very personal. Some women become pregnant accidentally and do not believe in abortion. Others want to leave behind children who might have better lives. Conversations with HIV-infected women from all races and classes show that they all believe that the decision to give birth is so personal that no one has the right to judge them. "Pharma Mar, S.A. Announces Major Collaboration with Major European Institution" PR Newswire (05/08/95) Pharma Mar, S.A., a Spanish biopharmaceutical company, and the Pasteur Institute in Paris have agreed to evaluate a new Pharma Mar compound called Dehydrodidemnin B (DBB)--one of several products derived from sea organisms to fight cancer and HIV. The researchers will study the effect of DBB on immune modulation of peripheral lymphocytes from HIV-infected and healthy individuals. In particular, the studies will concentrate on DBB's potential to inhibit apoptosis as a therapeutic strategy to maintain higher levels of immune cells to fight HIV infection. The DBB evaluation is part of a greater relationship between Pharma Mar and the Pasteur Institute for evaluating compounds for their immunomodulating properties. "Two Brearley Students Invent Non-Reusable Syringe and Win Top Science Prize" Business Wire (05/08/95) By modifying the design of a standard hypodermic syringe, two 17-year-old girls at the Brearley School in Manhattan have developed a non-reusable syringe to fight the spread of AIDS. The students, Elizabeth Nathan and Gabriella Pollack, won first prize in the NYNEX Science and Technology Awards competition, and will each receive a $15,000 college scholarship. Nathan and Pollack invented a mechanism that immobilizes the syringe's plunger when the injection is completed, making it impossible to reload. If force is used to pull up the plunger, it will detach from the syringe, rendering the syringe useless. In addition to the scholarships, Nathan and Pollack are eligible for $250,000 in special grants from the NYNEX Foundation to develop their inventions. "New Oral Medicine Clinic at San Francisco General Will Serve Patients with Oral Cancer, HIV, Diabetes, and Other Oral Problems" Business Wire (05/08/95) A new Oral Medicine Service at San Francisco General Hospital will treat area residents with diseases of the mouth, including oral cancer and HIV-related problems. The new clinic, which is part of the University of California at San Francisco Family Dental Center, offer treatments that were previously unavailable at San Francisco General, says Dr. Dan Ramos, director of the new service. Previously, patients identified with some oral problems were referred to other facilities. Seventy percent of these patients, however, never made follow-up appointments. HIV-infected patients are very susceptible to periodontal disease, the fungal infection oral candidiasis, recurrent ulcerations in the mouth, and gingivitis. In some instances, clinic dentists have diagnosed Kaposi's sarcoma and gingivitis in HIV-infected patients who were previously unaware of their infection, Ramos says. "AIDS Drug: Experiencing Local Delays" Science (04/21/95) Vol. 268, No. 5209, P. 369; Cohen, Jon Until recently, there was no interest in developing intravitreal HPMPC--a potential treatment for cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, a condition that often causes late-stage AIDS patients to lose their vision. But three years ago, William Freeman--an ophthalmologist at the University of California at San Diego--informed Gilead Sciences, which owns the rights to HPMPC, that he wanted to inject the drug into the eyes of AIDS patients with CMV retinitis. Although Freeman was not able to get HPMPC from the company, he was able to test his approach by obtaining the drug from European chemists who manufactured it. Three anonymous researchers claim that Gilead was not interested in local treatment with HPMPC because of concerns that it would not make much profit from the small, infrequent doses used in the process. Oncologist Howard Jaffe, Gilead's vice president for clinical affairs, maintains that the company did not supply Freeman with the drug because at the time it was a small company that could only pursue a few options for HPMPC. Gilead chose instead to develop HPMPC for intravenous use. The company now intends to repeat Freeman's early work because the version he used and Gilead's HPMPC are not identical. "Prednisolone for HIV?" AIDS Clinical Care (05/95) Vol. 7, No. 5, P. 42 A one-year study in France tested the theory that the chronic immune-cell activation typical of early HIV infection damages the immune system, and that immunosuppressive drugs to reduce such activity could be effective. The researchers treated 44 adults who were either asymptomatic or had only lymphadenopathy with daily doses of prednisolone. After one year, no patient had AIDS, and lymphadenopathy had decreased or disappeared in 16 of 20 patients. Overall, average CD4 lymphocyte levels increased significantly. Markers of B- and T-cell activation decreased and serum p24 antigen and HIV RNA levels remained stable, while the destruction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro was strongly inhibited. There were no major side effects to the drug. Because the study was uncontrolled, however, it is not clear whether prednisolone would have worked better than a placebo. "AIDS Talk" Federal Times (Supplement) (05/08/95) Vol. 31, No. 13, P. S10; Bridger, Chet Joan Piemme nurses patients with AIDS and HIV at the Martinsburg, W.Va., VA Medical Center. Her main responsibilities are educational--teaching patients about HIV and helping them develop a program of medication, diet, and exercise. "I think it's very important that the person be as informed as possible because they have a huge role to play," Piemme says. She also offers friendship, which can be hard to find because of the stigma attached to the disease. Piemme does the pre-screening for all veterans taking the HIV test at the center. She also has the task of telling them the results and doing the post-test counseling. Informing a patient of a positive test result is the hardest part of her job, she says. Piemme also speaks to schools and community groups, trying to raise AIDS awareness. There is still an acute lack of understanding, she notes. "Into the Groove: Yoko Ono" Advocate (05/02/95) No. 680, P. 50; Isherwood, Charles Yoko Ono's latest musical endeavor, "New York Rock," is currently being recorded as a soundtrack album. The story is "about a man and a woman who meet and fall in love in a rough city, and the man is shot to death," says Ono--singer John Lennon's widow. "All the losses to AIDS that gays have suffered--it's something that all of us are going through on some level," notes Ono, whose work is not only about the murder of her husband, but also about the universal nature of loss. Ono is donating all her profits for the show's soundtrack to the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR). Ono has made several large contributions to AmFAR in the past, but the organization's chairwoman, Dr. Mathilde Krim, says the gift has come at a particularly important time, when the group is having problems meeting the current year's budget. "International AIDS Candlelight Memorial, Sunday May 21, in 250 Cities in 47 Nations" AIDS Treatment News (04/21/95) No. 221, P. 6 On Sunday May 21, in 250 cities across the world, the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial will be held. In San Francisco, the procession will begin at 8:00 p.m. at the intersection of Market and Castro.